My first marathon: How to experience the “runner’s high”

There's nothing like a good run. Not just for the physicality of it, or the calories burned. But the things you see.

When I first moved to New York, the idea of running was right up there with eating coleslaw (I HATE coleslaw). I would actually hop on random city buses to get more of a sense of the city. But running, not surprisingly, has taken me further than any city bus (one of the few things I can actually run faster than). Marathon training has taken me down the East River along Manhattan’s East Side, over the Brooklyn Bridge (there’s seriously nothing like it), and added to my deep affection for all the charms, obvious and hidden, of my beloved Central Park.

When I go on trips now sometimes I feel like I’m not really in a city until I’ve jogged it. My girlfriends and I tackled Battersea Park in London. I’m pleased to say I made my own attempt at “storming the Bastille,” running past Place de La Bastille in Paris while Plastic Bertrand’s “